A hearty Mazel Tov (a blessing on your head!) to Louisiana Congressman Bill Cassidy, whose staunch support of abstinence-only education will soon bear delicious fruit from the tree of poetic justice: His 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant and expecting a baby any day now! Good work, everyone! Let’s all go home!
It’s hard to know exactly what Cassidy was thinking when he backed abstinence-only education because not only is he the owner of the most American haircut I’ve ever seen (I needed to get that in somewhere and here is good), but he’s a physician. I recognize that I come from a liberal state so I am very fortunate to have had sex-ed in sixth grade (best way to learn is from the drama teacher; she talks about orgasms, you never want to have sex ever) and that my doctor talked to me about sexual health in high school, but this guy is a physician. Doesn’t ten years of medical school pretty much beat it out of one’s head that abstinence doesn’t work? Doesn’t a pediatric rotation? Aren’t there studies on this sort of thing? Yes, congressman, there are! But you know, then there are also videos like No Second Chance, that point out that if you have sex you’d better be prepared to die. (And that the only true method of safe sex is a meaningful look. (::Looks at you…meaningfully)
“Our children have been the greatest blessing of our lives and we welcome our grandchild as a joyous addition to our family,” he continued. “Our daughter now faces a more challenging future than her peers. She has our unconditional love and support.”
It’s awesome that Cassidy is supporting his daughter (for whom abortion was likely not even a choice) but what about all the other teens hurt by getting inaccurate information about sex and family planning? While Cassidy may not change his stance (he may even go harder, suggesting that it didn’t work for his daughter but WILL work for others) his daughter’s pregnancy could be the opening of a conversation about why abstinence-only education doesn’t work and how we can realistically reduce teen pregnancy and STI rates without resorting to the old “You’re going to die if you fuck someone before you’re married” rhetoric.
Image via Patheos